As the road stretched north into the Endless-Pocono Run section of the DiscoverNEPA Brewer’s Loop, we rolled off I-81’s last exit and into 2 Dogz and a Guy Brewing.

We spent a better part of the first week of March kicking around the remaining scraps of winter. The sunlight had changed, and when it splintered through cracks in the calloused, loosening grip of the season, it shined a bit brighter and a touch warmer. Ahh… Spring.

Throughout the arc of human evolution, few things so inspired the body into movement than the arrival of the springtime sun. The gray filter washes from our eyes. The blood warms with the lengthening days. The muscles grow hungry again. And, somewhere in the pre-frontal cortex, some inherited filament of DNA starts to glow. Soon, we’re casting off our bumbly, grumbly winter masks and rejoining polite society. Even our cave-dwelling forebears recognized retreating shadows as a cue to fire up the Jeep and head out in search of some fresh local beers. So that’s what we did.

The highway beckoned, though it promised only flashes of sunshine and a winter-beaten landscape in repair. Still, there’s a poetry in the soggy, brown hillsides and the omnipresent trickling of mountain run-off – a Romance, if one permits, in the bloated patches of green countryside that held fast through the deadly freeze. They await only that right pair of lungs offering the sweetest breath to their song, or simply the right pair of eyes capable of spying beauty even in this seemingly less splendid state of undress. It’s true even more so now, in the yawning spring, that NEPA’s natural charm is never lost on those who really know it.

So, we gassed north toward the last stop on 81. At the same time, the Susquehanna River, pregnant with recent rain and snow, barreled south out of the Catskills. We’d meet the fattened river where it first breaks the New York border in its namesake NEPA town – Susquehanna. Here, our 60-mile, Monday morning jaunt into the northern wild comes to a welcomed pit stop. And the latest endeavor in our quest to try all of NEPA’s fresh, local craft beers has led us to a humble hand-painted sign bearing the likeness of two loyal, loving pups. We’ve arrived at 2 Dogz and a Guy Brewing.

Let’s pop in for a few, shall we?

The Taproom

A warm, welcome stop at the end of a long road.

You might struggle at first to capture the quintessence of the taproom at 2 Dogz and a Guy Brewing. It’s, in one view, a neighborhood pub. There are painted steel tables and ornate stools offering an authentic piecemeal sensibility. A mix of local artwork, photographs and kitschy “beer stuff” keeps the eyes busy. Copper and conduit and corrugated steel lend to a blue-collar vibe that clearly extends from the brewer’s approach to his beer.

Among the hard, shiny surfaces and the remnants of old machinery, the room portrays a sense of utility. There’s a bit of “on-the-nose” masculinity permeating – this is a room where you drink beer and little else. And, perhaps, that’s all you really need. The brewer certainly qualifies that statement with a simple, true-to-form take on his beers. It’s laid back. It’s unpretentious – free of distraction. If there’s conversation to be had, it’ll be about beer, or cars, or BBQ (2 Dogz shares the building with the immensely popular Red Rock Barbecue and Ice Cream).

But there’s another side to this…

If you spend enough time at 2 Dogz (and, once they try the beer, most people do), you’ll find that the entire atmosphere tends to change before your very eyes. Beneath that industrial, utilitarian aesthetic flows a softer, comfort-inducing undercurrent – a human touch, if you will. The focus of the joint is the elbow-shaped bar in the far corner. Beyond the steel and the dark green walls, this hand-crafted, polished beauty welcomes weary travelers in a way that only a classic wooden bar could. Remnants of antique barn doors make up the toe kick around the bar. Large windows along the west side of the building splash warm, natural light into every corner.

There are table games and chessboards. A much-coveted grouping of high back, leather club chairs surround an antique (and operational) coal stove. They have space for live music, a convenient counter for ordering Red Rock BBQ. Yes, they’ll bring it right over from next door.

Of course, sometimes there are dogz.

And suddenly, there’ s more to this little place than just beer. From table to table, from wall to wall, echoes of laughter and conversation vibrate. Sure, you’ll have that stuffy talk of beer, but you’ll also find yourself immersed in old friends returning, a family on a road trip, parents meeting their college-age kids at a halfway point, locals letting go of a long shift. The true secret to five years of success at 2 Dogz and a Guy Brewing is in the good people that find their way here time and time again. Yeah. Maybe that guy behind the beer and that gal behind the bar also have something to do with it. You’ll just have to pull up and elbow down to find out.

Now, about that beer…

“We drink our mistakes.”

At 2 Dogz, simplicity is king. True craftsmanship, however, arises from a mastery over simple processes and a requisite, innate patience. There are four basic ingredients and about ten thousand ways to screw everything up. In essence, the brewer is confounded by an endless pursuit to narrow or altogether eliminate the pathways between those ingredients and those ten thousand screw ups. And even if our friendly brew master at 2 Dogz and a Guy won’t admit it, we’ll just say it for him – he’s well on his way.

At 2 Dogz and a Guy Brewing, every beer is a combination of science and math, art and passion, “research & development,” customer feedback, and a little bit of everything in between. The end result – clean, simple styles delivered with robust flavor, refreshing subtlety, and little room for gimmicks.

We began our first springtime beer tour with a delicately sweeter version of an IPA. The Southern Passion IPA was our lightest beer of the day at 5.6%. This smooth take on the summer IPA delivered a true-to-form mild bitterness that immediately gave way to a lingering stone fruit aroma. We’ll take two more on the back patio please. Next, we moved up to the Dog House Ale. This clean, easy-drinker disguised itself as a medium ABV ale at 6.1% and brought a curious lager sweetness to the palate.

From there, we went a shade darker with the Cooper’s Maple Brown Ale. This cruiser at 6.1% offered a master class in subtlety. You got all the toasty, malty promise of a typical brown ale leading you to a very distinct, yet fleeting hint of maple sweetness. Breakfast beer, anyone? Then, we closed out our tour of the mid-range ales with the notorious Pandemic IPA. As far as classic American IPAs go, this fiery golden-hued beauty strikes that fine line between a welcome upfront piney bitterness and a delicate citrus aroma. And at 6.6%, it comes in a touch on the lighter side for an IPA with such robust character.

Finally, we went full dark side with the much-anticipated Vanilla Bourbon Stout. And though the climb to the hefty 11.5% -er was daunting, it proved well worth the effort. A hands-down favorite among our small, trusty group of “nowhere-near-professional-tasters,” this gorgeously black stout brought it all and then some. The dark chocolate/coffee aroma hovered just above the creamy head. The vanilla offered a very mild complement to the rich malty toastiness. And, of course, it finished strong with a warm, robust bourbon hug. Hold us and never let us go, Vanilla Bourbon Stout.

For the non-beer drinkers, 2 Dogz also offers their unique line of Puppy Paw Spiked Seltzer, hard cider, a selection of PA wines and cocktails using only PA spirits. They also offer beer to go in convenient 4-packs.

We stopped by 2 Dogz and a Guy Brewing in early March. Winter’s gray remnant still hung heavy over NEPA’s round, rolling Endless Mountains and a biting wind gnawed at each sliver of exposed skin. Nonetheless, the good people behind this little craft brewery welcomed us and warmed us with conversation. Their stories flowed just as generously as their beer and we were more than happy to drink it all up.

Make that trek north and check this one out.

Must Try:

Pandemic IPA – American IPA – Generously hopped and smooth citrus-y homage to the classic American style — 6.6%

Dog House Ale – American Ale – A noticeably sweeter and welcome take on the format – 6.1%

Vanilla Bourbon Stout – Stout Ale – Subtle vanilla, robust, spicy bourbon, little more needs to be said — 11.5%